Northeast Corridor: Philadelphia To Washington

Discussion in 'Content Developer's Area' started by cActUsjUiCe, Jan 17, 2021.

  1. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    This project is a proper extension of the Washington to Baltimore route to Philadelphia 30th Street Station. Track will continue north from where it currently ends around milepost 93. Development will leverage resources such as official track geometry documents, the latest speed limits, route markers from Google Earth, and the Google Maps overlay. There is no estimated time of completion for this project, but we'll be extremely transparent with our progress.

    The extension is approximately 93 miles, which brings the total track miles of the route to approximately 136 miles. The maximum allowed speed is 135MPH for the Acela Express and 125MPH for other passenger traffic. Due to the creation of Washington to Baltimore, there are plenty of accurate scenery assets at our disposal. There is no intention of creating custom assets at this time, but we will leverage other relevant DLC as necessary.

    Progress
    February 26, 2021 - Mainline track laid up to Landlith interlocking.

    January 30, 2021 - Mainline track laid up to the south limits of Bush interlocking. Entire progress can be viewed here:

    January 23, 2021 - Joined Tracks 2 & A to the tangents at Point. Continued laying track north to milepost 83. Approximately 10 miles of track has now been laid for the extension to Philadelphia. Entire progress can be viewed here.

    January 18, 2021 - Started track from curve at milepost 93. Tracks 3 & 1 extend fully to Point interlocking. Track 2 ends between Point and Bay. Track A ends just south of Bay. Entire progress can be viewed here.


    Resources
    Official Track Documents
    The documents our developers have access to contain the latest information regarding track geometry (curvature/superelevation), speed limits, and gradient changes. Proper utilization of these documents ensures as realistic a route as possible. These exact documents were referenced during the creation of Washington to Baltimore. See below for excerpts of track charts and speed limits.
    Track charts.JPG speedlimits.JPG

    Series Markers
    We have also exported a portion of our Google Earth project into the editor. The path of the tracks were plotted in Google Earth, exported to KML, and converted to DCSV so that the editor can overlay on the terrain. This way, you can see intended track paths and not be concerned with inaccuracies in the Google Maps overlay!
    routeseries1.jpg routeseries2.jpg

    NASA SRTM Terrain Data
    Terrain data is derived from the latest revisions of NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. These files come in a native .HGT format and can be quickly imported into the editor.

    Google Maps Overlay
    Google Maps Static Maps API overlay is being utilized to assist with track laying and scenery placement.

    Developer Comments
    Brandon Phelan (a.k.a cActUsjUiCe)
    Hey everyone! For those unaware, I created all the track, terrain, and career scenarios for the Washington to Balitmore route released by Dovetail Games in December of 2020. All tracks were placed with actual curvature and elevation values derived from official track documents. I take pride in ensuring that track geometry is proper and that pride will be carried over into this project as well. I am not the leader of this project, but I am assisting in any capacity that I can. I'm trying to get the word out there so as much support can be garnered as possible.

    All development of this project that I personally do will be livestreamed on YouTube. I feel that's the best way to show people the absolute latest progress of the route and provide an interactive environment where questions can be asked. You can find my channel here: cActUsjUiCe - YouTube. All members of the development team can be found on my Facebook group. Please consider joining! Northeast Corridor Simulator Development | Facebook.

    Please reach out to me with any questions you have,
    Brandon
     
    Last edited: Feb 27, 2021
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  2. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    Please join me for a livestream tomorrow (January 18, 2021) where we get the trackwork started! Scheduled for 1pm Eastern. If you can't make it, the video is archived for future viewing.

     
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2021
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  3. Brickrail782

    Brickrail782 Active Member

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    Sounds great! Can't wait to see the finished project.
     
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  4. Daniel Gibbs

    Daniel Gibbs Active Member

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    I can't wait!
     
  5. treid09

    treid09 Guest

    This is some quality route building. Nice job!

    I have a question about the terrain data. Where do you get those files for a specific region? I ask because I have been considering starting my own route. Thanks and God bless.
     
  6. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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  7. Tomas9970

    Tomas9970 Well-Known Member

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    I'm curious. What's the reason for not using custom assets?
     
  8. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    1. The ability to publish to workshop at some point.
    2. It requires resources that we currently don't have. This project is being done strictly by hobbyists like myself as a side thing. There's no money coming in for this unless we open it up to donations.
     
  9. treid09

    treid09 Guest

  10. Mich

    Mich Well-Known Member

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    Is there intentions to use assets from the old New York - Philly route?
     
  11. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    Most likely, yes. If only for scenery assets alone.
     
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  12. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    I'll be livestreaming more track laying for the Philadelphia extension for the Washington - Baltimore route on Saturday the 23rd at 1pm Eastern. No changes have been done to the route since the last progress update on 18 January. Hope to see you there! If you can't make it, the video will be archived on my channel.

     
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  13. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    After yesterday's livestream, we have now laid 10 miles of track for this extension. Quite a bit to go, but making fine progress considering the difficulty of the tracks at the beginning.
     
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  14. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    I'll be livestreaming more track laying for Philadelphia to Washington on Saturday at 1pm Eastern. Hope to see you there!
     
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  15. Agent Qracle RUS

    Agent Qracle RUS Well-Known Member

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    Hi Brandon, route is still building or was abandoned? Can you make situation clear?)
     
  16. cActUsjUiCe

    cActUsjUiCe Developer

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    Evan (the project lead) and a couple others are still decorating. All i did was get them started with terrain and track laying
     
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  17. mikeov1985

    mikeov1985 Member

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    I am looking forward to this route.
     
  18. CaptainAce

    CaptainAce New Member

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